The VIX closed at 16.68 on Wednesday, down from the October 16 reading of 19.99. That close preceded a 7.8% VIX drop the following session as the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.

The S&P 500 now sits at 7,757.17, within 1% of its early October record after three straight gains. After the bell, all five major earnings reports cleared estimates, and only two rose.

Meta posted $3.83 per share versus $3.57 on $64.6 billion in revenue, a 26% gain, and added 2.74% after hours. Texas Instruments beat at $2.62 versus $2.40, and slipped 0.5% despite strong guidance.

Tesla beat at $0.48 versus $0.45, and rose 1.6% after hours. IBM cleared both lines at $2.95 versus $2.88, and dropped 3.66% after hours.

Lam Research posted $8.22 billion in revenue, up 54%, and fell 6.8% after its outlook was only slightly better than expected. When three of five beats produce declines, the market is trading guidance, not the headline number.

SpaceX surged 7.79% after posting record quarterly revenue of $14.6 billion and $4.4 billion in net income. JPMorgan more than doubled its price target to $500 following the report.

The gain was the session's largest single-stock contributor to the Nasdaq's advance. Thursday's lockup expiration, the seventh since the company's IPO at $135, releases up to 1.3 billion additional shares for sale.

The Dow gained 360.21 points to 52,856.09, its highest close since September 4. It has climbed more than 1,300 points from its mid-October low.

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The Nasdaq rose 1.05% to 26,702.86, its best session since October 19 but still 3.25% below its record. Thursday's pre-market reaction to the earnings split will test whether the Nasdaq's first real bounce in three weeks can hold.

WTI crude settled at $97.15, down 0.68%. The contract briefly topped $100 after reports of U.S. staff leaving Gulf embassies before fading.

The 10-year yield edged to 5.13%, barely moving despite the session's oil swings and equity gains. Gold fell 0.24% to $4,132.80 as the dollar held at 101.68.

Neither gold nor the dollar is pointing toward a repricing ahead of the October 28 FOMC decision. December hike odds hold above 85% on CME FedWatch.

Weekly initial claims arrive at 8:30 a.m. ET with consensus at 200,000 versus the prior 199,000. The series has printed between 197,000 and 200,000 for five straight weeks.

A break above 205,000 would disrupt that range and could pressure the 10-year yield. SpaceX's lockup expiration adds supply risk to a stock that gained 7.79% in one session.

Equity futures pointed lower in overnight trading, carrying the after-hours earnings split into Thursday's open.